Calgary Police Have Confirmed Their First Officer To Test Positive For COVID-19

While most of us are lucky enough to stay home and social distance, a number of health care workers and first responders are still working. Even though measures have been put in place to ensure everyone's safety, it has been confirmed that a Calgary police officer tested positive for COVID-19. Thankfully, that person was not in contact with the general population. 

According to a recent Facebook post by the Calgary Police, the officer in question was the first COVID-19 case among the Calgary Police Service (CPS). 

“This is something we were prepared for as we know that our employees are not immune to the same risks faced by other members of the community,” explained the post. 

Police have confirmed the member who tested positive is an officer that works in a specialty area where officers haven't been interacting directly with the public in recent weeks. 

Both the unnamed officer and their CPS partner are now in isolation. The rest of their team was already working remotely from their Calgary homes at the time. 

"All of us in emergency services are regular people who have to balance our health, our families and our personal lives with the demands placed on us by our careers," said Chief Constable Mark Neufeld in a statement. 

"We know some of us are going to get sick or are going to need some time away to support our families. The Service has plans in place to make sure we can look after our people while maintaining core services.”

The team is now working closely with Alberta Health Services to ensure any members of the public or other employees who may have directly been exposed to the disease are notified directly by either 811 or the police service. 

"We are working hard to make sure that we are protecting the public and our members through this pandemic," said Neufeld. 

"While the way we respond to calls might look a bit different these days, people need to know they should still call us if they need help. We will be there for them."

Due to public interest, it was decided that police would notify the public of their first positive COVID-19 case.

The service has announced that it'll continue working on ensuring frontline members who interact with the public have the appropriate protective equipment to prevent as much exposure as possible. 

Should you be in contact with an officer, don't be alarmed if they're wearing masks when speaking in close proximity to others. 

CPS went on to write that many of their employees are working from home to prevent the spread of COVID-19. 

In addition to wishing their staff member a speedy recovery, they expressed their gratitude for essential workers including health care and grocery store staff members.